Tianzun had long set the town to be eventually destroyed in the fate that had been set for them. But this new variable had introduced a new flow of fate.
He was curious to see what the woman would do once the fate of destruction had occurred. Tianzun had set the town to be destroyed by infighting. Once the town had been in place long enough, Tianzun would slowly start removing the exit and entrance grafts, gradually reducing resource sources.
This way it would lead the townspeople to kill each other over fight for resources, and eventually leave the town empty.
But with a new factor in play, he wasn't sure exactly how this would play out.
He closed his eyes and dreamt of numerous lives and fragments of his marionettes.
~~~~
I carried the snow lady into the medical centre. I laid her down on the bed. She is very beautiful. I can only think of appreciating this beauty that I can not have. I am just a stall owner trying my hardest to sell and make a living day by day.
I entered the emergency room with haste, I had been called by numerous people about an emergency of a lady draped in snow. She had been injured and had collapsed after entering this town. I treat her with the utmost urgency. Perhaps she holds the key to exiting this town.
I play the piano within the concert hall. The my hands dance across the keys of black and white. The melodic sounds fill the halls with expressions of sorrow and anger. I slam the notes with a sickening thud as the music comes to a sudden halt. I stand up and gaze at the audience, they applaud and I take a bow.
I watch the pianist express such various emotions and such clean perfect technique. His musical expression is the best in the town. The feelings I get when I hear such sounds are complicated. They reflect my sorrow when my wife cheated on me with another man. The pianist ends his performance with a sickening thud. I applaud his performance.
I sit at my desk signing documents and thinking about the snow lady found at the "entrance" of our town. I have always tried to exit this town to no avail. Every time I try, I feel a tug preventing me from exiting. This has been the same for all town citizens. I feel troubled as mayor. I stare at the proposal from a noble to change the town's name. I veto it, I like the sound of a town named Town.
I continue to take inventory of our town stock. A concerning revelation has hit me, our resources are dwindling each month. It has been going on some time, yet the pattern has only been confirmed now. Since the start of building this town in a strange place, we've been trapped here. Never being able to exit. Our entire survival relies on the visitors and merchants who visit us and trade. Yet even those visitors and merchants are visiting less.
I sit on the dirty roads clutching my stomach in hunger. Today's begging is a failure. This is hardly enough to buy even a single burnt piece of bread. The pain in my stomach intensifies as my vision blurs.
I watch as the snow lady awakes from her slumber. I quickly attend to her request for water and begin questioning once she is ready.
I look up from the mass amount of paperwork in the office as a the doctor and those who found the snow girl came to visit. I looked at her and asked, "How did you get in?" She looked confused as we explained our predicament. In that moment, a horrified look graced her features but soon softened with pity.
I looked around the town in order to find an exit, the supplies are slowly dwindling, the rate at which we can obtain supplies are gradually decreasing. We have to solve the problem soon. Public dissent is already prominent, soon the villagers will likely turn on each other. This is a problem.
I stare at the cold corpse at my feet as blood pools on the cobblestone ground. I stare at the piece of bread in my hand. I stare at the corpse at my feet. I stare at the bread in my hand... The bread is tasteless and has a hint of iron. I stare at the corpse at my feet.
I look at the slums where blood replaces the rain drops. People slaughtering each other over a piece of bread. Yet in that mess of a slum was an untainted flower, a lady of snow. She begs and attempts to mediate the people. The blood continues to pool.
I stare at this untainted flower within this town, she is the only one who can exit. What right does she have to judge us for attempting to survive? Everyone knew the only way to survive longer was to reduce the numbers. I lunge at her and plunge the knife into her throat. Why? Why? Why can I not bring myself to do it? Why can I so easily kill everyone else? Yet I can not bring myself to plunge this knife into her?
I stare at the lady who suddenly stopped the knife in her hands. Anger overcomes me, why should an outsider get to judge us? And that stupid fool who had slaughtered so many and yet couldn't bring herself to even kill and outsider. I slit the throat of the confused woman before facing swinging wildly at the lady. My arms stop mid swing. Why? Why? Why is this outsider protected by these strange rules?
I notice something odd about the outsider. She seems to be protected by some sort of rule. "Get the outsider lady! She seems to be protected by something." I shout to the others. Slaughtering each other could come after but the outsider came first in priority.
I watch from high up as the population slowly decreases. All I can do is hide because I am a coward. I'm scared. I don't want to do this.
I hide in the shadows and scheme to pit the others against each other. I bring out their most deepest darkest vulnerabilities. I am weak, I will die If I try anything. So I can only use others by fooling them.
I run from the butcher who chases me. I'm too fast for him. He can't find me If I keep running. I open and close every door in order to confuse him.
I stole the cleaver that the meat butcher was using as he chased a scared individual. He doesn't even know what he's carrying isn't a meat cleaver but a stick. He turns around to cleave my head off only to find a stick. I swing the cleaver and he howls in pain before he drowned in his own blood.
I tried, I failed. She is protected... Why? Why is she protected when we have no qualms killing any of our townspeople?
We all feel a tugging feeling preventing us from killing the snow lady. We all turn our heads to the sky and see black threads drilling from our bodies. Each thread of our arms is taught and being pulled by those faint threads. The bundle of threads expands the whole town and reaches all the way above the veil of grey fog.
They extend into an ancient palace graced by the fog and into the hands of a figure cloaked in black and yellow. Tianzun awoke knowing exactly why he had stopped those marionettes from killing the snow lady.
He placed a hand where his heart was and felt it beat.
The real live painting was nothing more than the remaining vestiges of humanity.
//Next Chapter: Finding Humanity//